Pouring attachment for paint cans



OC- 9, 1951 w. w. cAsslDY POURING ATTACHMENT FOR PAINT CANS Filed Oct. 7, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

XXX

PAINT ATTOR/VEK to.k uniform consistency before use.

Patented 0119, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE 2,570,426 y f POURING ATTACHMENTA FOR PAINT y`CANS William W. Cassidy, Englewood, Colo. Application October 7, 1948, Serial No. 53,230

1 claim. l

` 'Ihis invention relates to attachments for paint cans and more particularly to a device which facilitates pouring of paint from a can.

' It is common practice to retain paint, especially in the smaller quantities, such as gallons, halfgallons, quarts, or less, in Vcans having a circumferential groove at the top thereof, into which the lid frictionally ts. The pigment in paint separates from vthe vehicle and settles to the bottom ofthe can quite rapidly, hence, it is almost always necessary for the user of the paint tomix it Mixing is sometimes effected by stirring with a stick or the like, but the most eifective manner is by pouring ithe paint back and forth between two cans.

When the paint is poured from the can, it must flow over the groove previously mentioned and a certain amount of paint will be retained therein after mixing, or other procedure involving poury ing of the paint, is completed. The user often vomits to clean the groove and reapplies the friction lid to the partially paint filled groove. An eiective seal cannot be obtained when lthis is done and as a result air enters the can and dries the paint. The user often finds, when it is later' desired to use the remaining paint, that it has dried to such extent to be rendered useless. Paint is quite expensive; hence, this may result in considerable monetary loss. Y Y

Also, during the process of pouring the` paint, a certain amount thereof will almost invariably run down the outside of the can onto the can label and if this is not carefully cleaned, the information contained on the label will be obliterllated when the paint dries. This, of course, renders diicult later identification of the exact Yviate the disadvantages above mentioned by the provision of an attachment for a paint can which prevents the paint from entering the can groove during pouring.

Another object is to prevent paint from run- .ning down the outside of the can during pouring.

A further object is to construct the attachment fin such manner that the painter has more effec- Utive control of the pouring of the paint.

l 2 Other objects are to provide an attachment which is simple in construction, may be inexpensively manufactured, and will effect considerable saving in time to the user, and also a monetary saving. i

The above objects and any others that may appear as the description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail and reference for this purpose will be had to the accompanying drawing where the invention has been illustrated, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the invention shown in position ona paint can, the latter being shown by dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2 2, yof Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3 3, of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a top plan View of another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5 5, Figvbroken away, showing any of the embodiments in use.

Referring in detail to the drawing there is shown in Figures 1 to 3, a conventional paint can I0 havingv a conventional peripheral friction 'groove I I at its top, the friction lid which nor- Vmally engages Withinvthis groovevhaving been lremoved. The friction groove just mentionedis endless and U -shaped in cross section and extends adjacent the periphery of the can at one yend thereof. 'I'he attachment I2, which may be constructed of sheet metal, has a slightly dished vportion I3 which is bounded by a circular side The circular side is provided with a downwardly extending rim I5, as best shown in Figure 3, which is so proportioned ,to groove II that it will frictionally fit therein in the same manner as the can lid normally retained in this groove. An aperture I'I is--provided in the dished portion adjacent the rim which aperture is surrounded by a downwardly extending flange I8 through which paint may pour as Will be hereinafter explained. A pouring lip I9 is soldered, or otherwise secured, to the attachment-,adjacent this aperture and extends the paint must flow through `aperture I1. aperture meters 4the rate of flow and this vrate may be chosen as desired by choice of the size of the .aperture laterally of the can to wall thereof.

In Figures 4 and 5 is shown another embodiment of the invention wherein the pouring lip I9' is formed as an integral part of the attachment rather than as a separate part as shown in Figures l to 3. The lip also carries upstanding flanges 20 along its lateral edges which prevent any paint from running over the lateral edges and aidin directing the paint Ato the outer edge of the lip. The downwardly extending rim I6 ts within the can groove II in the same manner as previously explained in connection with Figures 1 to 3. The top of this rim forms a channel 2 I which would permit paint to run along this `channel and into the can groove, hence to prevent this undesirable result, this channel is filled with a suitable material, such as la plastic insert 22, which prevents flow of paint along the channel 2 I. This insert Vneed not extend the full lengthof channel 2l and if desired the ends, only, .of the channel may .be suitably plugged. .This Vwould. permit paint to enter the channel 2l but prevent it from running into the can groove. If paint is left within the groove after use, it would ll such groove and dry therein, thus effecting lthe same result as filling the groove with the insert previously described.

In the embodiment shown in .Figure 6, the attachment is made substantially the same .shape Vas that of Figure 1 except that it is integrally formed of plastic, or the like, rather than sheet .metal and rim I6 is solid rather than channel shaped as shown in Figure 1.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the attachment is made of sheet metal asin Figure 1, but the lip I9 is formed of plastic or other material and is forced intothe channel 2I formed in the upper side of rim I6.

When it is desired to use the attachment, the vlid of the paint can is 'removed and the attachment applied to the can groove as previously explained. Another attachment'may be applied to an empty can 23, as shown in Figure 8, and the lpaint is poured from can IIJ to can 23. lAls previously explained, one side of the attachment is -lchordal at one edge and has an opening 24 'into can 23, the process is then reversed `and continued, pouring back and forth until the paint is thoroughly mixed. In Figure 8 is will beobiserved `that the portion I3 forms a level dam on the rpaint can above Ythe level of 'thepaint and The This isa considerable advantage over the former method of pouring overthe Yedge -of the can because inthat method the Vrate of ow Ais solely governed by the manner andrate in Uwhich, the can is tipped. If the can istipped too rapidly, spilling of paint is likely'to occur and,

of course, if pouring is to be at a uniform rate, v'the can lmust be carefully and uniformly tipped.

With .this inventionless lcare is required in tipping .because the aperture controls the rate of flow, for

example, if the can be tipped too rapidly, instead of spillingl paint, the aperture will limit the rate of flow.

It is to be particularly observed that during a point beyond the side can after pouring is completed. The edge I 5 may be used to scrape excess paint from a paint brush andthe Vdownwardly dished portion I3 provides a drain means which directs any surplus paint back into the can.

'The manner of use has been described above in lconnection with two attachments by way'of exemplication, but it will be apparent that one attachment only may be used, if desired. For example, if can 23 has nofriction groove, or has a friction groove which the user does not desire to be kept free of paint, he merely applies the attachment to the one can which he desires to reseal. It is also apparent that the attachment will find utility in connection with cans which contain liquids other than paint. Also, while the attachment has been illustrated for use with a circular can, it is apparent that if the can Vwere of other shape, such as square or rectangular, the edge and rim corresponding to circular edge I4 and the rim I5, respectively, would be shaped to correspond with the particular shape of the can.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

An attachment for a friction groove can of the type having a circular U-shaped groove adjacent the periphery of one end thereof, comprising; Va plate-like member having a circular edge and a chordal edge, a downwardly Yextending circular rim on the lower face of said member adjacent said circular edge, said rim being proportioned to engage within the can groove, the plate-like member having a pouring aperture adjacent said rim.. substantially midway the peripheral length of said rim, said plate-like member being dished downwardly from said rim in such manner that its lowest point is substantially midway the length of said chordal edge, whereby liquid lying on said plate-like member will drain from all portions thereof over said chordal edge at substantially its central portion when the plate-like member is secured to a can .having the plane of the Aopen end thereof disposed in a substantially horizontal REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in 'the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 156,082 Ferguson Nov. 22, 1949 1,706,522 Chamberlain Mar. 26, 1929 1,952,647 Karsel Mar. 27,1934 1,993,745 Murch Mar. 12, 1935 2,031,006 Rollason Feb. 18, 1936 2,031,623 Wardell Feb. 25, 1936 2,106,381 Rough Jan. 25, 1938 '2,168,608 OBrien et al Aug. 8,1939 2,315,250 Eilers Mar. 30, 19i3 

